The Virginia wrestling team will continue to hit the mat hard this weekend as it takes on No. 14 Penn State and American International College at the Sprawl & Brawl in Binghamton, N.Y. While the No. 21 Cavaliers are fresh off hard-fought losses against longtime wrestling powerhouses, No. 9 Illinois and No. 12 Wisconsin, at the ACC/Big Ten Clash last weekend, their stiff season schedule is just getting underway. The squad, however, remains undaunted by the tough competition, confident and eager to face ranked opponents away from home.
“The level of our competition makes up for not having a home match until [January],” Virginia senior Rocco Caponi said. “As long as the competition is good, the home matches can be put on hold for a while.”
Despite falling to Wisconsin (25-15) and Illinois (39-7) on the road last Saturday, the Cavaliers (1-2) were proud of their performance and continue to have an optimistic outlook on the season.
“It showed we can hang with some of the best teams in the country,” coach Steve Garland said. “In most weight classes we actually outwrestled them.”
No. 14 sophomore Chris Henrich is one such grappler who has exceeded expectations for the Cavaliers. Wrestling in the 174-pound weight classification, Henrich won all three of his matches last weekend; his dominance on the mat not only improved his record to 7-0 on the season but also earned Henrich his first ACC Co-Wrestler of the Week honors.
“He deserves it,” Garland said. “The kid is a hammer. He has been the biggest bright spot of the whole team. He has actually improved more than we would have expected.”
In addition to Henrich, Garland has managed to accumulate a crop of young talent during his three-year tenure as the Cavaliers’ head coach. Freshman Jedd Moore, Virginia’s headline recruit coming into the season, has already established himself as a future prime-time performer for the Cavaliers with his early season win at the Michigan State Open Nov. 9. Although he has displayed his obvious talent on the mat, Moore still has much to learn about the technique required to wrestle successfully at the collegiate level.
“Jedd Moore technically is not used to being in a bottom position,” Garland said. “It’s one of those situations where he was so good in high school, he just stood everybody up. We can’t fix heart, but you can fix technique.”
While the Cavaliers hope to have enough heart to hang with another top-25 opponent, Penn State (0-1), Sunday, they are not overly concerned with wins and losses at such an early point in the season. Virginia’s main focus is just to continue to improve and to perform to the best of its ability.
“The first semester is just a means to an end,” Garland said. “The record I am not worried about. I’m concerned with our guys competing and improving, which I think they are. I am not doing this for my career record; I am doing this to get my guys into the position to be All-Americans and national champs.”
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